Monday 6 July 2009

Bulgarian Election 'Get Out oF Jail Free Card' Didn't Work

Bulgarian Election 'Get Out oF Jail Free Card' Didn't WorkBoyko Botisoc PM Elect

Well it didn’t work, the alleged Mafia men’s, "Get out of jail free card," by standing as a candidate in the National elections didn’t work as they failed to get elected. Mafia tactics to get people to vote for them must have backfired. Now the new Bulgarian PM elect Boyko Borisov promises to take a hard line against just criminals – We’ve heard all that before though, isn’t he part of the gang?

Five suspected criminals who stood in Bulgaria's July 5 general election to escape prosecution failed to win seats in the next parliament, ballot results showed on Monday.

Loopholes in the laws of the European Union newcomer, allowed suspects awaiting trial to register as candidates in the election to secure release from custody and temporary immunity from prosecution. If elected, their immunity would have been permanent.

Their participation has shocked many in the Balkan country of 7.6 million and the European Union, which last year punished Sofia for being too soft on crime and corruption by freezing over half a billion of euros in EU aid.

Nearly complete election results showed none of the five, including two suspected crime bosses from the southern town of Dupnitsa, won seats in the 240-strong chamber. Their trials will now resume, prosecutors said.

"If these people have not gained (permanent) immunity they lose their temporary immunity as candidates for parliament and trials continue," Sofia City prosecutor Nikolai Kokinov said.

The opposition center-right GERB of Sofia mayor Boiko Borisov won a resounding victory on Sunday, raising prospects for a clean-up of organised crime and high-level graft in the EU's most corrupt and poorest nation.

The straight-talking Borisov restated on Sunday night his resolve to impose the rule of law and put corrupt crime bosses and officials behind bars.

Source: www.reuters.com
Image from Wikipedia